Miracles, Everywhere!

It amazes me when I hear people complain that God has abandoned us, how there are no miracles. Are they serious?

If they went into any Catholic Church to celebrate the Mass they would actually witness and participate in a miracle. During Mass the priest, by virtue of the sacramental power of ordination Jesus gave to Peter 2000 years ago, consecrates the bread and wine and in so doing opens up the space between Heaven and earth as the species become the actual body and blood of our Lord!

The Last Supper by Salvador Dali

And this isn't a one-time-only event! This miracle happens at every Mass, in every Catholic Church around the world, every day of the week, not just on Sundays! That being said, there are literally too many miracles to count.

Also, outside of Mass, people can always visit with the real presence of the Lord, either in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during exposition, or by locating the Tabernacle which always houses a consecrated Host - the Living God.

The Blessed Sacrament

The Tabernacle (from the Hebrew's Holy of Holies) is found in every Catholic Church around the world, and can usually be located near the lit red candle called the Sanctuary Lamp.

Sanctuary Lamp and Tabernacle

The Catholic Faith overflows with miracles, and the Universal Church is eager to share our miracle-giving God with everyone!

Blessings,

~JT~

Review: How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice: Civil Responses to Catholic Hot-Button Issues

How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice: Civil Responses to Catholic Hot-Button Issues by Austen Ivereigh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The only reason I'm not giving this book five stars is because of the limitations, which are not a fault of the book or of its author, but of this reviewer.

I am a Canadian, and How to Defend the Faith is primarilly an American way of addressing the social issues that critics bring to the Church. Not a problem, unless one isn't an American citizen.

Of course, it makes sense that hot-button issues such as abortion, euthanasia, AIDS care, women and the Church, gay-rights, clerical sex abuse, etc, should be addressed with some recourse to contemporary and current legislation. Admitedly, the principles behind the arguments and the counter-arguments should be universally applicable, but sometimes the issue can only be addressed in its cultural/legislative context.

Having said that, this is an important book for all Catholics (and non-Catholics who want to know how Catholics will respond to their criticisms). The last couple of pages also explain how we can all discuss these hot-button issues without losing our tempers - something that doesn't help anyone on either side of the debate.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the Catholic Church's position on many/most social issues. The book is at times technical, in the sense that Ivereigh knows his Catechism and both Canon and legislative law. This may rile some readers who find it unfair that a defender of the faith relies on the Catholic Catechism, but since the issues criticise the Catholic Church's perceived position on these topics, it is the author's prerogative to explain the Church's actual position - which has often been misunderstood in the first place.




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I'm Finally Writing Something New! Doctor Farkas III

Happy 2015!

After two years of editing works from my catalog (with still four novels to go!), I'm taking a break and am actually beginning a new project. Or, should I say, continuing a new project?

I'm currently writing the third installment in my Dr. Farkas paranormal romance series for Fine Form Press. This one is titled King's Daughter and it is steeped in history. The fun in writing about vampires is that they just don't die (at least not easily) and their lives span eras.

In this third part, my narrator changes from doomed/rescued/doomed and rescued again phlebotomist Abigail Andrews to Dieudonnée, her nemesis and mortal enemy (especially after all that brouhaha in Blood Work: Dr. Farkas II. King's Daughter is Dieudonnée's autobiography. So, anyone familiar with the mean-bordering-on-psychotic vampire knows that this is going to be quite a tale!

To recap the Dr. Farkas series so far:

Dr. Farkas by JT Therrien

Dr. Farkas

Blurb

Abigail Andrews is a phlebotomist who has terminal leukemia. The good news is that her oncologist, Dr. Jakob Farkas, might be able to heal her, since he claims to be a vampire. But there's one small hitch, tired of his lonely existence, Farkas has not fed in over 100 years and needs to be brought back to health before he can help Abigail, with whom he has fallen madly in love.

Abigail doesn't believe the crazy doctor's story, but she doesn't have much else going on at the moment besides dying. So she leaves her boring life behind in order to join Jakob Farkas on his travels around the world in search of a mystical cure.

As they await the arrival of the Spring Equinox in the legendary caves in Lascaux France, Abigail wonders if she can overcome the greatest obstacle to her cure: her mortality.

Blood Work: Dr. Farkas II by JT Therrien

Blood Work: Dr. Farkas Part II

Blurb:

Newlyweds Jakob and Abigail lead an active social life: they party late into the night in after-hours dance clubs, devour tasty amuse bouches, and travel the world seeking fun and adventure. Life is good, until one day when Abigail starts throwing up. Not a life-threatening event, unless you're a vampire. When Abigail's illness spreads to Jakob, and then threatens an entire lineage of vampires, the couple is summoned to old Quebec City to meet with Jakob's maker. Abigail is introduced to Dieudonnée and quickly finds herself caught between a lethal illness and a jealous, vicious vampire whose solution to the problem is to kill Abigail.

In King's Daughter: Dr. Farkas Part III, Dieudonnée recounts her incredible adventure which begins in 1636 France and continues in New France.

I look forward to sharing King's Daughter with readers in the spring of 2015. Meanwhile, this will give new readers a chance to catch up on the series. You can get your copy of either part one or two for Kindle here, or for any other format such as iBook, Book Nook, Kobo, etc. either on their sites or at Smashwords.

As always, thank you for reading.

~JT~